Belt package



Feb. 8, 1938. R. E. s. GEARE BELT PACKAGE Filed Jan. 16, 1956 W I INVENTOR.

BY 1 M...- ATTORNEYS.

center of the belt, such sleeve being of compara- Patented Feb. 8, 1938 BELT PACKAGE Randolph E. S. Geare, Philadelphia, Pa., as-

signor to L. ILGilmer 00., Philadelphia, Pa.,

UNITED" STATES PATENT OFFICE a corporation'of New Jersey same'to be suspended from'a hook, bar or other support, I r

In the putting up of automotive fan drive belts and refrigerationtype belts for shipment and sale, it has been a practice togfit a sleeve around the tively short length and serving functionally to prevent the belt from: spreading widely apart,

' whilev at the same time affording a means on which the name and/or trademark and informa- ..tory,matter pertaining to the belt is printed. A

.ybCltl so put up, for-shipmentand sale may be sus- .-pended for displayinna salesestablishment at either of its ends from a hook or suspension bargsibutis opnsto.'theiobjection that substantially the entire belt is exposed and is liable to easily soil or injure in handling and to collect dust, whereby its appearance and sales attractiveness is decreased.

In order to overcome this objection, it has also been the practice to provide the belt with a central retaining sleeve and then completely enclose it in an outside carton which gives protection to the I belt, but at the same time eliminates the possibility of hanging the belt on a hook or bar in an establishment provided with such suspending means to allow an attractive display of the belts to be made.

The main object. of my invention is to provide a belt package embodying a belt and a container 1 therefor enclosing the belt so as to hold itin compact shape and at the same time give substantially complete protection to the belt, while leaving one end of the belt exposed ,or accessible in such manner as to enable the belt to be suspended from a suspending hook or bar.

- and container in tight frictional engagement to prevent their relative displacement.

The invention consists of the features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts,

' hereinafter fully described and claimed, refer- .ence being had to the accompanying drawing, in

which a s nqq tio mnaa s, 1936, SerialNo. 59,460

a 1 Claim. ((1206-46) 'l his-invention relates to a novel and improved belt package, embodying an automotive fan or other transmission or drive belt, anda container 1 Fig. 1 is a perspective view showinga plurality of belt packages embodying my invention as mounted for display from a suspending bar.

Fig. 2 is a similar View of a belt package embodying my invention as mounted for display from a suspending hook.

Fig. 3 is a central longitudinal section through .a belt package.

Fig. 4 is a transverse section thereof.

7 Referring now more particularly to the drawing, I designates an endless belt, molded or otherwise made of rubber or rubber and fabric, and which may beof V-type or fiat type, or any of the types commonly employed for driving the fan belts of automobiles or for driving the cooling fans or other working parts of automatic refrigerators or other machines. The sides of such a belt, because of the more or less inherent degree of elasticity of the belt, tend to spread, and it is therefore customary to place a confining sleeve about the center of the belt to hold itin a compact coni ion r-s oras -za sh pm ntv Sleeve, as hereinafter explained, is of comparatively short length so as to cover the central portion of the belt only and it is commonly in the form of a flat cardboard wrapper, utilized, in addition to its function of holding the sides of the belt together, as a means on which the name of the manufacturer and his trade-mark and other data pertaining to the belt may be printed. Belts so packaged for shipment and sale have both ends exposed so that an assortment of such belts, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, may be suspended by a dealer either from a suspension bar 2 or from suspension hooks 3 on walls or cases in his sales establishment. The belts when thus packaged are apt to become easily soiled or injured and to readily collect dust and dirt, so that it is impossible to tell the age of the belts and so that their sales attractiveness is greatly impaired.

To overcome this objection and to give protection to the belt, it has been a common practice to pack such sleeved belts in cartons or like containers, whereby they are completely protected from soiling or injury, but at the same time cannot be mounted upon suspension bars or hooks, but must be kept on or within counters. or display cases, to the disadvantage of those establishments provided with suspending bars or hooks for belt display.

In carrying my invention into practice, I dispose the belt within a container 4 which is in the form of a long, flat sleeve-like carton, open at one end 5 and closed at its opposite end 6. This container or carton is of a length almost but not that the belt will be adequately protected from soiling and from injury in shipment and While displayed for sale, and the belt itself protected from dust and from the deteriorating effectsof atmospheric influences.

In practice, the container or sleeve-like carton is made of such width that, when applied, it will engage the sides of the belt'and hold the same compressed to maintain the belt in compact shape, while at the same time establishing a frictional engagement between thewalls of the container andthe belt to hold the belt from slipping in the container or the container from slipping on the belt, thus preventing their casual disengagement or relative displacement.

The container may be made of cardboard or other suitable material and its closed end t'may be either in the form of a permanently closed 'end wall, or it may be in the form of a closure flap with a tongue or other'suitable means for holding it in closed position. The container in addition to serving its described function may also be printed with the name or name and trademark of the manufacturer and with other matter applying to the dimensions and other characteristics or uses of the belt. By packaging belts in this manner the disadvantages mentioned with regard to the prior ways of packaging belts are effectually overcome and a simple means provided for giving substantial protection to the belts while enabling them to be displayed many of the customary ways in a sales'establishment.

each other.

:the belt is compressed to dispose said sides in parallel relation for compact packing of the belt are placed under tension tending to spread them apart, of an enclosing Wrapper'for thebelt comprising a narrow elongated flat container of comparatively rigid material and of a depth and width approximately equal to the compressed belt "and" of a length approximating but slightly less 3 than that of the belt, said container being closed at one end and open at its opposite end so as to snugly-embrace the compressed belt except: at one of the belt ends, said-belt end projecting outwardly beyond the open end of the container'to form an eyefor suspending the package from a support, the extent of projection of 'said belt end being small with respect to the overall length of the compressed belt so that substantially the entire portion of the belt will lbe enclosedand protected from soiling and injury, therigidityof the material of which the container is made being suflicient to maintain its-normal form and of such relation to the spreading tendency of the compressed belt as to resist bulging of the'container and to'adapt it to retain its shape'while opposing spreading of the'beltand thereby insti-' tuting a frictional'binding engagementbetween the same and the sides of; the belt to hold the container and belt from shifting relatively to RANDOLPH E. s. GEAREQ 

